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Pro-gun rally low-key for opening of Colorado legislature

By Kurtis LeeThe Denver Post

Posted:
01/09/2013 02:47:18 PM MST

Updated:
01/10/2013 02:21:26 AM MST

A large group of demonstrators lined Lincoln Street on Wednesday with their signs supporting Second Amendment rights during a pro-gun rally at Lincoln Park in downtown Denver. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

There were no speeches, but there were plenty of signs touting the protection of Second Amendment rights.

About 150 people lined Lincoln Street in downtown Denver across from the state Capitol ,waving to passing cars.

Neal Pashman, who had boasted on Facebook that he would show up with a gun openly carried — which is against the law in the city and county of Denver — stood calmly among attendees.

Supporters at the pro-gun rally across from the Colorado state Capitol on Wednesday, January, 9, 2013. (Kurtis Lee, The Denver Post)

"I decided not to open carry because it's a good thing to have 150 to 190 people down here protesting ... I didn't feel like it was appropriate to challenge the law and be in the minority," Pashman said.

The rally — organized by the local group Guns for Everyone — came on the same day lawmakers convened for the start of the 2013 legislature.

On Wednesday, Republican Sen.. Scott Renfroe of Greeley presented a bill that, if passed by the Democrat-controlled legislature, would authorize a school district to allow an employee of a school to carry a concealed weapon.

This comes after the National Rifle Association called for armed security guards in schools nationwide.

Denverite Brandeis Sperandeo stood out among the pro-gun crowd for voicing his support of legislation that would ban high-capacity magazines.

"I'm pro-gun, but I'm for common sense gun reform," Brandeis said as people heckled him to leave. "If you need these type of magazine clips, then you don't need a gun."

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